TL;DR
A longtime blogger argues that text remains the most durable, flexible and efficient communication medium, able to encode precision, support search and survive across centuries. Comment threads on the post acknowledge image and audio strengths but largely reinforce the original claim that text should be the default choice when possible.
What happened
In a 2014 blog post titled "always bet on text," author graydon2 laid out a case for privileging text over images, audio and other multimedia. He describes text as historically durable — readable for millennia when preserved — and uniquely precise, able to express ideas with controlled ambiguity and context. The post traces a pattern in communications technology where text-based systems tend to precede higher-bandwidth media: optical telegraphs, teleprinters and text-focused networks came well before widespread voice or video transport, and mobile text services preceded modern smartphones. The author also highlights practical advantages: compact storage, easy compression, searchability, translation and asynchronous multiparty collaboration. Commenters add perspectives about time-efficiency and emotional communication via images; graydon2 responds by reiterating text’s broader utility across large-scale and asynchronous interactions and notes limits of image-driven platforms for conveying precise ideas.
Why it matters
- Designers and product teams may prefer text-first solutions to maximize durability, searchability and storage efficiency.
- Text enables asynchronous, multi-party workflows such as editing, diffing, annotation and branching conversations.
- Low-bandwidth contexts and archival efforts benefit from text’s compactness and longevity.
- Text’s translatability and indexability support broader accessibility and automated processing.
Key facts
- The piece was posted by user graydon2 on Oct. 13, 2014.
- The author frames text as the oldest stable communication technology that must be taught and transmitted to appear in societies.
- He argues text can be more precise than images for conveying complex or abstract ideas.
- The post cites a pattern in communications history: text-centric systems (e.g., optical telegraph, teleprinter, text-only networks) typically precede widespread voice and video use.
- Examples named include pagers, SMS, WAP, USSD and early Blackberry devices arriving before smartphones like the iPhone.
- Early online services referenced include Teletext, BBSs, netnews and gopher appearing prior to the web.
- The author gives compactness examples: a small blog post measured in kilobytes and a tiny 20-pixel bird silhouette measured in a few kilobytes (as illustration of relative size).
- Commenters pointed out that transcripts or text can be faster to consume than audio/video, while the author acknowledged images have emotional or aesthetic advantages but argued they lack the precision and social utility text provides.
What to watch next
- not confirmed in the source: whether emerging interfaces or AI-driven multimedia tools will shift the balance away from text-first design in mainstream applications.
- not confirmed in the source: how long-term digital preservation strategies will allocate resources between text and richer media formats.
- not confirmed in the source: future empirical comparisons of human time-efficiency reading transcripts versus consuming audio/video across large populations.
Quick glossary
- Text: Written characters used to encode language; supports searching, editing, translation and compact storage.
- Asynchronous communication: Exchanging information where participants do not need to be present or responding at the same time.
- Compression: Techniques that reduce the size of data for storage or transmission.
- Telegraph / teleprinter: Early long-distance communication systems that transmitted textual messages rather than voice or images.
- Indexing / search: Organizing and retrieving information efficiently using metadata, keywords or full-text queries.
Reader FAQ
Who wrote the original argument?
A blogger using the handle graydon2 posted the essay on Oct. 13, 2014.
What is the main claim?
The author contends that text should be the default communication medium because of its durability, precision, efficiency and social utility.
Does the post say images and audio are worthless?
No; the author acknowledges the emotional and bandwidth strengths of images and audio but argues they rarely match text for many tasks.
Are the historical and technical examples independently verified here?
not confirmed in the source
Recent Entries Archive Reading Network Tags Memories Profile frog hop always bet on text always bet on text Oct. 13th, 2014 12:34 pm graydon2 I figured I should just post…
Sources
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